Her blonde ponytail har frad her face as she sat quickly at a table, as her finger fiddled nervously with the hem of her sleeve.
He wasn’t mistaken, it was her. Although she hadn’t revealed her face.
Across from her sat another girl, who seed much more talkative, gesturing as she spoke.
Maximus exhaled, his lips pressing into a neutral line not which action to take now.
They had been texting on and off, noting too deep, but enough that he knew she was the shy type.
And just then, as if sohow sensing his gaze, she turned.
The mont her blue eyes landed on him,her expression changed.
A flicker of surprise, then sothing softer— that signature shyness of hers.
Her fingers imdiately went to her lap, her shoulders hunching slightly. She didn’t lood away imdiately, though. It was as if she was waiting for so kind of response.
Maximus, ever composed and calm, simply gave a slight wave, nothing too dramatic, just a sign that he acknowledged her presence.
Lily’s face turned slight pink, and she quickly looked down at the table, tucking a stand of loose hair behind her ear.
Zack, who had been busy deciding on his al, finally glanced up. "whats that?"
Maximus returned to his nu imdiately. "Nothing."
Zack humd in amusent. "That nothing had you looking over there for a solid five second. Did your big investor friend show up"
Maximus didn’t respond much, just a slight puff of air from his lips to signal the absurdity of his words.
Zack smirked. "Old friend?"
Maximus took his ti before answering. "You could say that."
Zack nodded and didn’t push further.
Their drinks arrived fast, Maximus settled for a simple iced coffee, while Zack went for a light whiskey, swirling the glass absentmindedly as they started discussing business.
"The resorts coming along nicely," Zack mussed, taking a sip. "I can handle the celebrity and promotion. Just have to twist a few strings here and there."
Maximus nodded. "Ill have to sell one of my buildings to gather the remaining funds but once the resorts up and running, the profits will take care of the rest."
Zack grinned. "Smart. We should start discussing marketing soon. Gotta make sure were packed once we open."
Maximus humd in agreent.
As they talked, he noticed subtle movents from Lily’s table.
She was still sitting there, but her fingers occasionally tapped against her glass, as if she was debating sothing.
Her friend, clearly the bolder of the two whispered sothing to her, and lily imdiately shook her head, her face red.
Maximus smirked slightly but didn’t let it distract him.
By the ti they finished their al, zack leaned back in her seat, satisfied.
"damn, that hit the spot..."
Maximus too a final sip of his drink, setting the glass down.
12: 50 PM.
It wasn’t late, but he figured it was ti to wrap up.
Just as they were about to leave, he caught movent form Lily’s table again.
This ti, she was stealing a deliberate glance at him.
Not long stares, just quick, fleeting ones, like she wasn’t sure if she should approach or not.
Maximus debated for a brief second but decided not to dwell on it. If she wanted to talk, she would. If not, he wasn’t the type to push.
As they stood, zack stretched. "alright, whats next?"
Maximus smirked. "What do you think? Back to work!"
Zack groaned. "you really know how to kill the mood man...."
They walked toward the exit, and for a brief mont, maximus gaze flickered back toward Lily’s table.
She looked up.
And this ti, instead of looking away imdiately, she gave him a small, uncertain nod.
Maximus’s responded with a simple smirk before he stepped out into the sunlight.
»»»«««
Maximus exhaled as he rolled into his driveway, his power bike purring before he killed the engine.
The mansion gates had already been opened for him by his guards, who gave their usual professional nods as he passed.
He replied with a nod to each of them before purring by.
His body felt heavy with exhaustion, the weight of the day settling in now that he was finally ho. He just wanted to collapse on the couch and not move for the next few hours.
Kicking his shoes off, he stretched his amrs over his head with a groan before flopping down onto the leather couch.
His eyes briefly flicked to the Investnt God Systems interface which was already active, but there was no new notifications- just the sa old XP calculations and pending investnts.
Nothing urgent.
He let his head sink into the cushions, eyes fluttering shut.
And then, just when he was about to doze off, his phone buzzed, jolting him back to consciousness.
He groaned, cracking an eye open. Unknown number.
A slight frown appeared on his face. He debated ignoring it, but sothing nagged at him. He had a feeling he knew who it was, or he he was expecting it to be.
Sighing heavily, he pressed the accept and brough the phone to his ear.
"Hello?"
A soft pouting voice imdiately filled the speaker.
"Maximus!"
His lips twiched. It was lily.
Her voice had that unmistakable playful sulk to it, like a kid who didn’t get the last cookie.
"Why didn’t you co say hi?" she asked with a nervous tone attached to her voice. "You just wave and left."
Maximus smirked, propping himself up with one arm. "Didn’t know you wanted to..."
There was an awkward mont of silence, followed by a tiny huff. "I an, I didn’t, but..."
"you didn’t?" he cut in, amusent lacing his tone.
Lily sputtered. "that’s not what I ant!"
He chuckled while rubbing the bridge of his nose.
He could practically picture her right now, cheeks puffed out, arms crossed, trying not to seem too affected.
"You were blushing," he said casually.
Then a long mont of silence followed again.
"I was definitely NOT!"
He chuckled again, "You totally were."
"I- Ugh, max, you’re impossible I swear," she grumbled, and he could hear the rustling of fabric, like she had just flopped onto her bed in frustration.
He leaned back into the couch, relaxed now. "So, whats up? Did you just call to grumble?"
"...Maybe...you got a problem with that?"
A smirk played on his lips. "You’re adorable, you know that right?"
Silence again. Then, a small embarrassed sound that made him grin.
"Shut up," she muttered.
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